Police, citizens, technology lead to Boston bombing manhunt's success

By Michael Martinez, CNN

Updated 9:52 PM ET, Sat April 20, 2013

Photos: Manhunt for Boston bombers45 photos

Manhunt for Boston bombers – Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is detained by officers on Friday, April 19. After a car chase and shootout with police, one suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was shot and killed by police early Friday, and his brother and second suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was taken into custody Friday night. The two men are suspects in the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, that killed three people and wounded at least 170. See all photography related to the Boston bombings.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Special imaging techniques employed by Massachusetts State Police reveal Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Dzhokhar Tsarnaev gets out of the boat he was hiding in outside of a home in Watertown, as seen in a surveillance video still.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – An ambulance carries Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, from the scene after he was apprehended in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police SWAT teams leave the area after apprehending the suspect in a yard where he was hiding in a dry-docked boat on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Residents flee from an area where a suspect was hiding on Franklin Street on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT team members run toward a police assault on a house as gunfire erupts on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – People react while watching police respond to reported gunfire on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT team members move down residential streets as they perform door-to-door searches in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – A U.S. military helicopter lands behind Watertown Mall as law enforcement agencies continue to search for the 19-year-old bombing suspect on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams prepare to enter a home as they continue the door-to-door search.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – U.S. President Barack Obama meets with members of his national security team in the Situation Room of the White House on April 19 to discuss developments in the Boston bombings investigation.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT team members line a residential street in Watertown, Massachusetts, as the manhunt continues on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – A man watches from the window of a home as a SWAT team member keeps watch on Friday, in Watertown, Massachusetts.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police to continue to the door-to-door search on Francis Street in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Law enforcement officers place themselves in an overhead position on Arsenal Street as the search continues on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Law enforcement officers react to what was initially thought to be a threatening suspect on Arsenal Street on April 19.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – A police SWAT team searches houses on April 19 for the second suspect.

Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Massachusetts state trooper watches other troopers line up at Watertown Mall as the manhunt for the second suspect continues in Watertown on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Police continue the ongoing manhunt for the second suspect on Williow Avenue in Watertown on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Watertown police vehicle with bullet holes in its body and a shattered windshield is towed out of the search area on April 19 in Watertown, Massachusetts.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – A Massachusetts State Police officer checks the bag of a cyclist amid heightened security on Friday in Watertown.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Katia Costa looks out her window as police continue the manhunt on Nichols Avenue in Watertown on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Ruslan Tsarni, uncle of the Boston terror suspects, told CNN affiliate WBZ that Tamerlan "got what he deserved" in an interview outside his home in Montgomery Village, Maryland, on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – A woman is questioned by Cambridge police and other law enforcement agencies Friday near the home of the second suspect in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer was shot and killed late Thursday night at the school's campus in Cambridge. A short time later, police reported exchanging gunfire with alleged carjackers in nearby Watertown.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams move into position at the intersection of Nichols and Melendy avenues in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – SWAT teams gather at the intersection of Nichols and Melendy avenues in Watertown while searching for the remaining suspect on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Onlookers take pictures while SWAT team members look around on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, left, speaks to the media at a shopping mall on the perimeter of a locked-down area during the search on Friday.

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Manhunt for Boston bombers – Metro SWAT members hang off the back of a truck during the search on Friday.

Story highlights

"It was just talent, guts and glory," police chief says of officers' heroics

Boat owner who discovers suspect is among citizens who aided manhunt

Infrared and cell phone technology help police track two brothers suspected in bombings

That didn't take long.

For a moment, the manhunt into the Boston Marathon bombings seemed as if it would last a while.

But an alchemy of police work, citizen involvement and technology yielded big breaks in the case and brought the manhunt to a quick conclusion, ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of his younger brother in the same week as the terror attacks, which killed three people and injured almost 200 people at the marathon.

That collective effort was praised by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, who credited the manhunt's success to "all of those law enforcement resources, assets and, more important, people, professionals who brought their 'A' game."

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Photos: Boston celebrates 33 photos

Photos: Boston celebrates33 photos

Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man removes a sign hanging from the Lennox Hotel along Boylston Street after the street reopened to the public for the first time since the Boston Marathon bombings in Boston on Wednesday, April 24. The city is trying to return to normal less than a week after two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, shocking the nation and leaving the city on edge. See all photography relating to the Boston bombings.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man washes a bus stop window on Boylston Street on April 24.

Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A cleaner power washes Boylston Street near the blast site after the FBI handed the area back to the city of Boston on Monday, April 22, following the week-long investigation.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – The Boston Fire Department Hazardous Materials team cleans the first blast site near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 22.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Cleaning material is sprayed on April 22 on the outlined blast seat on the sidewalk of Boylston Street at the site of the marathon bombings.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A member of the Boston Fire Department Hazardous Materials team cleans the first blast site with a pressure washer on April 22.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins embraces one of the first responders from the Boston Marathon attack after the game against the Florida Panthers at the TD Garden on Sunday, April 21, in Boston.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox speaks to the crowd during a ceremony held in honor of the bombing victims before a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park in Boston, on Saturday, April 20.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Neil Diamond sings "Sweet Caroline," a song traditionally played at Boston Red Sox home games, during a game against the Kansas City Royals on April 20.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Members of law enforcement react during ceremonies in honor of the Marathon bombing victims before Saturday's game.

Photos: Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man holds an American flag at ceremonies before the Saturday game in Boston.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Hundreds of people pour onto Hemingway Street in the Fenway neighborhood to celebrate after the announcement that the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect had been captured on Friday, April 19.

Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Officers from the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives relax Friday after the capture in Watertown, Massachusetts.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A woman gives a Boston police officer a hug and other officers are thanked during a celebration in the Boston Common on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A member of the North Metro SWAT team pumps his fist while leaving the scene near Franklin Street on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Around 200 people celebrate on Hemingway Street in the Fenway neighborhood after the capture of the second suspect on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – People wave U.S. flags as police drive down the street on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A photograph of Martin Richard, one of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, was placed on the plexiglass by a fan following the hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers on April 19 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man waves a U.S. flag in Watertown on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Local residents cheer to news that police have captured the surviving suspect Watertown on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – President Barack Obama arrives in the White House briefing room to make a statement late April 19 about the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. "We've closed an important chapter in this tragedy," he said.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A SWAT team member is followed by reporters and a celebrating crowd on April 19 after the successful operation.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A police officer adjusts his hat while various law enforcement agencies descend on the area around Franklin Street on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Spectators celebrate as law enforcement officers leave the scene on April 19 near Franklin Street.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – People gather at the scene near Franklin Street in Watertown on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – A man claps next to a police vehicle in the Watertown neighborhood on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Onlookers applaud first responders departing the scene at the end of the manhunt on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Police officers and SWAT team members exult after the successful operation to capture suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on April 19.

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Boston celebrates, seeks return to normal – Boston SWAT team members are surrounded by spectators and the media on April 19.

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Famous manhunts 12 photos

Famous manhunts12 photos

Clinton Correctional Facility guards found the cells of Richard Matt, left, and David Sweat empty during a 5:30 a.m. bed check on Saturday, June 6. The pair have been on the run since then. A manhunt is underway in the upstate New York region.

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State troopers escort Eric Matthew Frein from the state police barracks in Blooming Grove, Pennsylvania, on October 31, 2014. Frein, who is accused of killing a Pennsylvania state trooper and wounding another, was found at an abandoned airport near Tannersville, Pennsylvania, authorities said. He had been on the run for nearly two months.

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Edward Snowden, the man who leaked top-secret details about U.S. surveillance programs, has been charged with three felony counts, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act. After living in a Moscow airport since June, he began his temporary asylum in Russia in August 2013. He had been hiding out in Hong Kong until WikiLeaks helped him move to Moscow. Snowden has said he is afraid he would not get a fair trial if he came back to the United States.

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Convicted mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger spent more than a decade on the FBI's Most Wanted list before being arrested in June 2011 in Santa Monica, California. The jury in his federal racketeering trial found him guilty on 31 of 32 counts -- including involvement in 11 murders -- in August 2013.

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Eric Toth, a former private school teacher and camp counselor, was on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" fugitives list when he was captured in Nicaragua in April 2013. The investigation into the suspected child predator began in June 2008 after pornographic images were found on a school camera that had allegedly been in his possession.

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Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested in April 2013 after an overnight shootout with police that resulted in the death of his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. A federal grand jury returned a 30-count indictment against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, alleging he used a weapon of mass destruction.

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Former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner led police on a chase lasting days before he was tracked to a hideout in the San Bernardino Mountains. He took his own life in February 2013.

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Ted Bundy raped and murdered dozens of women across the country in the 1970s. He escaped from prison twice before being captured during a traffic violation in 1978. He was executed in Florida in 1989.

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Famous manhunts12 photos

The FBI is still searching for Abdul Rahman Yasin, a suspect in the February 26, 1993, World Trade Center bombing that killed six and injured more than 1,000 people in New York. Six other suspects were convicted in the attack.

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Eric Robert Rudolph -- who was convicted of a string of bombings, including the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta -- eluded capture until 2003. He was arrested in Murphy, North Carolina, and is serving four consecutive life sentences plus 120 years.

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Once a fixture on the FBI's Most Wanted list, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in an Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound on May 2, 2011.

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Lovebird bandits Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries before they were ambushed and killed by police in 1934.

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EXPAND GALLERY

Solving the case was led by a war-like deployment of police. One officer, however, was killed by the suspects.

Good citizenship came from a carjack victim and a boat owner, whose 911 calls put police directly on the suspects' trail.

And technology yielded the first major break: Police found photos and even a surveillance video of the two suspects toting backpacks -- each ostensibly loaded with a pressure-cooker bomb -- at the marathon's home stretch.

Those images gave the world its first look at who could be the bombers, engaging a society to be on the lookout. Those suspects would later be identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his younger brother, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, 19.

"Cameras seemed a useful technology in finding these people and solving this quickly," said Neil Richards, a law professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

The first images of the suspects came into play late Thursdaynight -- three days after the terror bombings -- after one suspect was seen on security video at a convenience store.

In an apparent misstep, police initially thought the two suspects had robbed the store. That wasn't the case, police later said.

The same night, suspicions rose again when a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge was fatally shot.

Police believed one of the bombing suspects shot the officer, Sean Collier, 26, in his cruiser as he was responding to a loud disturbance call.

Police don't know why the suspects killed him, but they had another sighting of them.

Then came the next big break: In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, a motorist was carjacked and taken hostage.

The two carjackers told the driver that they bombed the Boston Marathon and just killed a police officer. The suspects then forced the driver to withdraw money from an ATM.

The brothers then acquired another vehicle in a manner that authorities have yet to detail.

But it was the first vehicle -- a carjacked Mercedes SUV -- that gave police a stroke of technological fortune.

The carjacking victim left his cell phone in the SUV.

"Lucky for him and lucky for us that his cell phone remained in that vehicle," said Police Chief Edward Deveau of Watertown, Massachusetts.

Police began tracking the cell phone -- and the brothers themselves.

They were in Watertown, a suburb of Boston, where police engaged the two brothers, now in two cars, in a fierce gunfight. The brother also threw bombs at police.

"We estimate there was over 200 shots fired in a five- to 10-minute period," Deveau said. "There were so much heroics.

"It was just talent, guts and glory," he added.

One officer tackled the older brother after he ran out of bullets walking down the street -- as if in Hollywood showdown -- firing upon police about 10 feet away.

But as police handcuffed the older brother, the younger brother barreled toward them in the carjacked SUV. Officers leaped for their lives.

The younger brother then drove over his older brother, dragging him a short distance down the street, police said.

Authorities didn't have an immediate explanation as to why he ran over his big brother.

The firefight produced at least one casualty: A transit police officer, Richard Donahue, was wounded in the groin. As it turned out, Donahue and Collier, the slain officer, graduated from the police academy together.

The younger brother -- now the only surviving brother -- ditched the car and escaped into the dark streets at 1 a.m. Friday.

As news outlets reported the dramatic shootout the next morning, the manhunt reached its highest intensity.

A major American city was turned into a virtual ghost town: Bostonians, and especially Watertown residents, stayed off the streets. This gave police an open field to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile, the nation wondered, where was the Dzhokar Tsarnaev?

His discovery would turn on the curiosity of a citizen -- a homeowner -- who noticed something amiss late Friday with a tarp covering his boat, stowed in his backyard since winter.

"The technology is called 'flir,' forward looking infrared," said former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes, also a CNN contributor. "The human body is warmer than the air around him, so it stands out."

Knowing the fugitive was alive and moving, police negotiated with Tsarnaev.

Bloodied and injured, he surrendered that night, his capture made possible by police, thermal-imaging technology and a citizen's wisdom to run to the phone.